Large batches of curry sauce are made daily at Indian restaurants around the UK.
My Latest and Favourite Base Curry Sauce Recipe is in my New Hardbound Cookbook!
Back by popular demand, here is my original recipe for a large batch of Indian restaurant style curry sauce. I took it off the site about a year ago due to issues with my ebook, but I’ve decided to post it again. I’m going to be many more restaurant style recipes that require this base curry sauce.
Here are a few curry house style recipes you can use this sauce in now!
Chicken Tikka Masala
Chicken Korma
Chicken Madras
Chicken Dhansak
Lamb Rogan Josh
Lamb Vindaloo
Chicken Chilli Garlic
Chicken Patia
Lamb Bhuna
Watch me make some base sauce in the video below. It’s a slightly newer recipe.
Of course you could always use my small batch version, but if you really want to achieve that authentic curry house and/or balti house flavour, you’ve got to go large.
Visit the kitchen of any busy curry house and you are almost certain to see a large saucepan of curry sauce/gravy simmering away on the stove. This sauce is used as a base for most of the restaurant’s curries. Each restaurant has their own special recipe but they are usually quite similar. The base sauce makes it possible for chefs to cook, plate and serve many different curries quickly and easily.
This smooth curry sauce is just one of the things that give British Indian restaurant (BIR) style curries their distinctive flavour and texture that is loved by so many. Cooking curries in a more authentic Indian style just wouldn’t be possible in most restaurants as it would be too labour intensive, overly time consuming and not cost effective.
I like to describe the curry sauce as a fancy vegetable stock. It doesn’t have a lot of flavour though it does taste good. Add some chicken, cumin, garam masala, a large heap or two of chili powder, mango chutney and a few other ingredients and you’ve got yourself a chicken madras. Keep the chili powder to a minimum and add some cream, block coconut, rose water and a dusting of cardamom powder and voila… a fragrant chicken korma.
Stay tuned for all the upcoming recipes. Together with this sauce you will be able to create curries better than you’ll find at most restaurants. I guarantee it!
Check out this photo and copy it. Your sauce will be perfect. Only use about half of the cabbage. Any cabbage will do.
Fry your onions over low heat in the hot oil for about 30 minutes.
Your onions should look like this when you add the next ingredients.
The spices – cumin, coriander, garam masala, fenugreek and turmeric
Toss in the rest of your vegetables and stir into the onions.
Add the garlic and ginger and stir it in.
Now stir in the tomatoes
In go the spices except for the turmeric
It’s coming along just perfectly.
Add enough boiling water to cover and simmer for 20 – 30 minutes.
Time to blend.
After about three minutes of blending, the base curry sauce should look like this.
In another pan, melt your ghee and then add the turmeric.
Add the turmeric and ghee to the sauce and stir in.
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- 10 large cooking onions – finely sliced
- 250ml vegetable oil
- 9 tablespoons garlic/ginger paste (equal amounts garlic and ginger blended into a paste with a little water.)
- 1 carrot - peeled and chopped
- ¼ head of cabbage - chopped
- 1 red capsicum (bell pepper) - diced
- 1 green capsicum (bell pepper) - diced
- water
- 400ml (14 US fluid ounces ) chopped tomatoes
- 4 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
- 1 tablespoon garam masala powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin powder
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder
- 1 tablespoon fenugreek powder
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- Salt and pepper to taste (I usually leave this out and simply add it to the final dish)
- Pour the oil into a large heavy bottomed saucepan and heat over medium high heat until bubbling.
- Throw in the sliced onions and fry, stirring regularly for about 20 minutes until the onions are soft, lightly browned and translucent.
- Add the capsicums (bell peppers), carrot and cabbage and stir to combine.
- Fry for a further five minutes and then add the ginger and garlic purees and the all of the spices except for the turmeric.
- Now add the tomatoes and just enough water (about 2 cups/ 500ml) to cover the vegetables and simmer for about half an hour.
- After 30 minutes, remove the mixture from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
- Scoop the mixture in batches into a blender and blend until silky smooth. I usually do this for about three minutes per batch. If you have a hand held blender, this stage will be much easier.
- Once your sauce is smooth, melt the ghee in a frying pan. Add the turmeric powder to the ghee. It will darken as it cooks. You want to brown it for about 30 seconds being careful not to burn the turmeric.
- Now add the turmeric/ghee mixture to the sauce and bring to a simmer again.
- Once it is bubbling away, turn down the heat and simmer for a further 20 to 30 minutes
- Use immediately or store in the fridge for up to three days or freeze in 750ml (3 cups) portions for up to three months.
Hi Dan,
After exhausting our first lot of this, ust made a double batch, ready for anything!
Been scouting through the website for recipes I can cook up with this and found plenty, and thought it would be cool if there was a link for stuff you can do from this base gravy directly? Because I’ve got a big pot of sauce and lots of hungry friends!
Keep up the good work,
Ed
Thank you Ed. Good idea. I’ll work on that.
Dan
Hi Dan,
I am trying your Chicken Madras curry recipe and just want to confirm that I don’t need any curry in the base curry sauce (large batch) ?
Thank you very much,
Yve
Hi Yve
Sorry but I don’t understand your question. If you are asking if you need to use the base curry sauce, you do. It’s easy to make. 🙂
Cheers,
Dan
To clarify for people like me who were similarly confused, you can purchase a “Red Curry Powder” spice off the shelf at many grocery stores. I have one on my shelf, and was similarly confused why you didn’t include it in your ingredient list, until I checked the ingredients of my “Red Curry Powder” spice, which are Coriander, Cumin, Chilli Pepper, Red Pepper and Cardamom. So your recipe has Coriander and Cumin, along with “Garam Masala” (which I also have on my shelf) whose ingredients are Coriander, Black Pepper, Cumin, Cardamom and Cinnamon.
So I think the OP was asking about “Red Curry Powder”, which your recipe creates from more basic ingredients.
Thanks for this lovely recipe it was delicious x Made my family a curry for tea and they said it was the best ever!! Easy to make and excellent taste, thanks for sharing.
Thank you very much Lorna. I’m really glad you liked the recipe.
Dan
Hi Dan.
Haven’t done this yet. But just a quick question. Can you use Rapeseed oil instead of Ghee when it comes to the Turmeric stage?
Thanks
Steve.
Hi Steve
You sure can. No problem.
Thanks,
Dan
Hi dan when you say 10 large onions what would that be in say pounds
Hi Steve
No idea I’m afraid. Just use ten onions slightly larger than tennis balls and you should be fine to go.
Dan
i once did deliveries for a indian restaurant / takeaway and they used the base gravy for just about any liquid for almost any curry,
Hi Dave
That’s how it’s done. The gravy is great to have on hand.
Thanks,
Dan
Hi ,
The video and writtwn recipe are different.
In the video . It states 750ml of oil where the written is 250. Also the end of the sauce in the video is halved. One half being frozen , the remaining topped with water and blended. Is thatbthe final curry base?
Cheers.
Nick
There is no final base sauce Nicholas. I have a lot of them but they are all quite similar. 🙂
Looks like no-one else has found your ingredient list ambiguous – except me!
Please clarify (no pun intended):
Is it 9 tablespoons of garlic puree PLUS 9 tablespoons of ginger puree. OR 9 tablespoons of an equal quantities mix of both.
Thanks,
Stephen.
Hi Stephen
It is a garlic/ginger paste. Hope this help. Just nine tablespoons garlic/ginger paste.
Thanks
Dan
dan you didnt make it clear about the garlic/ginger, is it 9 tbls of each or 4 1/2 tbls of each, it looks like 9 tbls of each which seems a lot of ginger
Hi Brian
I have tried so hard to make this clear but always get asked. It is 9 tablespoon TOTAL. A mix of garlic and ginger paste. Hope this helps.
Dan
4 and a half of each
Have made this curry sauce and followed it up with Jalfrezi. It was delicious. The only negative is the amount of ginger but that’s a personal preference. I will use less next time. Great website. Hoping there are more curries to come using the premade sauce.
Hi Jo
Thank you. I have lots more recipe using the sauce on the way. 🙂
Dan
Going to try and make this over the weekend, just one question, does it matter what type of cabbage you can use ?
Hi Graham
Any cabbage will do just fine. Try to find the freshest available.
Cheers
Dan
Hi, how exactly do you make the garlic and ginger pastes? Do you add a liquid? Can I use just grated garlic and ginger? Thanks
Often one buys minced garlic and minced ginger in jars at the Indian food store, this might be what he meant.
It would work perfectly fine to grate or food process the garlic and ginger… as long as you get them fine.
I found several different brands of both garlic and ginger paste at an Indian grocery.
Hi Debbie
There are quite a few. Always best to make your own though. I find commercial brands to vinegary.
Cheers
Dan
Me too,always best done fresh.thank you for your sauce mix I’ve been doing my own for some years now but this is now my new recipe.
Thanks Frank. Great to hear.
Dan
I’ve tried this recipe twice now, and it works! The second time, I put it in the blender and passed it through a sieve. Much smoother. Great curry! Thanks.
Thanks Mark
Really glad you liked the recipe. Passing it through a seive is a good idea.
Cheers
Dan
Roughly how many servings does this make?
Hi Michelle
Very roughly enough for about eight curries that serve four.
Dan
We must have done something wrong then. Ended up with enough for 3 recipies, not 8. Probably boiled out all the water or something accidently.
The saagwala we made with it was quite tasty though!
Hi Thomas
I’ll check that. Generally speaking, you get one (one person) curry per onion added. Sometimes I make a huge batch with 30. With this recipe, you should get about three to four curries that serve four.
Thanks
Dan
So 32 portions?
Roughly. 🙂
Dan
Hi Dan,
Cooked this on Tuesday night, when I added the Turmeric even the smell made me realise it was going to be a winner. Tried it with Garlic Chicken, the best Indian I have made at home by far. I have your ebook on my kindle which died- do you have any plans for a printed version and secondly I’ve looked at a few recipes now and can’t find any that use the base curry. Could you point me in the right direction? God Bless, Stephen
Hi Stephen
I’m really glad you like the recipe. My blog is being updated so that there are more recipes that use the curry sauce. I had to remove many of the recipes so that I could have them in the ebook. You will notice that many of my recipes call for fried onions at the beginning of cooking. This takes up a lot of time. Rather than slowly frying the onion, use a ladle full or two of the curry sauce. You’ll love the result.
Thanks
Dan
Hi Dan
what recipies can I use this for? I cant find where they are and I just want to make this
Thanks
Hi Irene
There are a few recipe on my site that use it but my book has them all. Here is the link. http://www.amazon.co.uk/British-Indian-Restaurant-Style-Meals-ebook/dp/B0096X3S4M
Thank you.
Dan
Hi Dan
I want to make this but cant find a recipe to try. Can you help please
Thanks
Hi Irene
This base sauce is for Indian restaurant style curries. It can be used in my BIR recipes. Check out the Restaurant curry section.
Thank you.
Dan
Hi, could you please tell me what size stainless steel cooking pot I need to buy to accommodate all the ingredients to make the large batch curry gravy. Thank you.
Hi Mandy
I use a ten litre pot. You could adjust the recipe though an use a smaller pot if necessary. Thanks.
Dan
Dear Dan
I’ve just made your Restaurant Style Large Batch of Curry Sauce and I wanted to let you know that it came out perfectly. It’s absolutely delicious and I intend to make the Madras Curry with it. I shall never buy a jar again!!
I have a kindle so I shall be downloading your recipe book.
Kind Regards
Kim
Hi Kim. Thank you very much. Really glad you enjoyed the recipe. Hope you enjoy my ebook.
Dan
Thanks
I can’t wait to try this, I am going to buy your book on amazon tonight. How long can I keep it in the freezer for?
Hi Paula
Thank you very much. The sauce should keep in the freezer for at least three months without losing much flavour. Be sure to heat it up though before adding to your curries.
Dan
I want to order some curries now are you. Open. What are your. Hours please. Reply straight back
I Jane. No restaurant yet. Maybe someday. 🙂
Thanks.
Dan
I;ve tried to cook good curries at home for many years, but always try to make them as healthy as possible. I’ve decided to give up on that and try to make the best curry I can, and going to try your recipes. Hard you got a hard copy booked out as yet?
Cheers
Craig
Hi Craig
Thank you. I don’t have a hard copy yet. Maybe someday. I need to convince a publisher first. 🙂
Dan
I just made this to freeze. it makes loads! But i tasted the sauce and found it very bland. Hope i didn’t do anything wrong. Followed the recipe exact. Does it taste better when added to the Jalfrezi receipe for example?
Hi Lee
It should be quite bland as it is used to make different curries, spicy and mild. I look at it as a vegetable stock. It add flavour but the real flavour comes when you add the spices and other ingredients to make your curry.
Dan
Hey great recipe tried it with jalfrazi yesterday and it was great!
Im just wondering what kind of cabbage you should use?
I live in sweden and i translated it to white cabbage so thats what i used.
Hi Jesper
Thank you for your questions. White cabbage will be fine. The cabbage doesn’t add a lot of flavour so any cabbage will do.
Dan
Hi there i have made your curry base mix this weekend, i have clicked onto the korma link but is showing webpage error i was wondering could you repost the chicken korma recipe using the base sauce. Many thanks
Hi Nick
Not sure what happened there. The site had a lot of traffic over the weekend so perhaps that was the problem. The link is definitely working now.
Thanks
Dan
Can u use vegetable oil instead of ghee
Hi Joanne
Definitely. Many Indian restaurant chefs use oil instead of ghee. Good luck.
Dan
Hi Dan
Followed the recipe for the small batch. But I don’t get the red colour of your samples in the finished sauce I make.. any suggestions??? Where I’m going wrong?
Cheers
Gary
Hi Gary
It should be more of an orange colour. The tomatoes and tomato paste do give it some red colour but mine does usually end up quite orange. Red colouring in curries usually comes from red food colouring which is not necessary in this recipe. Hope this helps.
Dan
Hey Dan,
Do you think this sauce could be stored in Jars?
Is it 9 tablespoons of ginger and garlic paste together, or 9 or ginger paste and 9 or garlic paste? Also, what exactly is garlic/ginger paste?
Thanks.
Hi Ian
Garlic and ginger paste is equal amounts of garlic and ginger blended together with a little water into a paste. I do have a post on my site and will try to make this more clear in future. Thanks.
The recipe calls for 9 tablespoons of garlic and ginger paste (garlic and ginger together). It sounds like a lot but it is needed.
Thanks
Dan
Hi, I’m trying to figure out exactly how much in grams of ginger and cloves or bulbs of garlic to use in either total or tablespoon… Can you help me as I don’t want to mess it up. Cheers
Hi Martin
Thanks for your question. It really isn’t a major thing. I’m not sure about the grams but in Indian restaurant kitchens they simply spoon it in. Unlike baking, there is no real science to this. Just experiment, check out my photos and have fun.
Dan
I don’t get how ppl are not getting this. It’s 9 tablespoons in total of garlic and ginger paste.
Going to make your base soon. Can’t wait.
You are the man sir.
Very detailed explanations. Thanks very much.
Hi Chris
Thanks for stopping by. Hope you get to try the recipe soon. Much appreciated.
Cheers,
Dan
Hello, is it 9 tablespoons of garlic paste and 9 tablespoons of Ginger?
If you’re making an amount of the recipe that calls for 18 of garlic-ginger paste total, then yes? I’d love to know why everyone’s so worried. I get it. I used to hide scrawled recipes up my sleeve when cooking for friends even if I’d done it 10+ times. I guess, on the other hand, it is *somewhat ambiguous* – if it’s 50/ 50 so easy to say so in the list. Perhaps? Or perhaps I’m wrong. PS – I’m fascinated by the blog and just referenced it in a v nice, thrown together vegetable curry, which has turned out to be splendid. Many thanks. 🙂
Thank you very much Andy!
Dan
Hi I made this but it looks Nothing like the pic and was a very dry sauce, I have read over and put in enough water to cover the veg, I can’t see where I went wrong 🙁
Hi Charly
Just add more water. My recipes are produced in my kitchen with the products I have on hand. Perhaps yours were not the same size etc. Just add more water and let it cook longer. You’ll get there.
Dan
Hey, looking forward to trying this! Would love to make a chicken Rogan Josh though, could I just follow the lamb recipe you gave but use chicken instead?
Thanks.
Hi Daniel
You can use chicken instead. It doesn’t need to cook as long either. Just cooke it through completely until tender.
Thanks
Dan
I have been successfully making the sauce in a slow cooker by putting all the ingredients in the pot in the recipe order in one go and letting it slow cook on low for a few hours, then purée it. Excellent results every time.
Hi Julian
Thanks for that. I might give that a try someday.
Dan
Julian, could you add more details? do you add water to the slow cooker?
How much water would you say you add roughly in a measurement?
Hi Julian
I never really measure. Just top it all up with water. If you find the sauce is too thick after blending, add a little more. It should be like a thick pourable cream.
Thanks
Dan
Hi Dan are you using canned tomatoes or fresh. Looks like canned from the weight perspective (14.5 ounces).
Thanks
Greg
Hi Greg
Here in the UK I use canned in the Winter and fresh in the Summer. Hope this helps.
Dan
Hi
I have just made this and the smell is incredible – it already smells like walking into a takeaway in South London! However, When the sauce was finished I only had about 12 x cupfuls – if I have read the above correctly, I should have had enough sauce for 8 portions of 3 cupfuls ( therefore = 24). I followed the recipe exactly, so what has gone wrong?
To clarify, I have approx 2..3 kilograms of sauce which I have split into 4 portions. Should I now add water to thin it, as it does seem just a little thicker than I expected.
Any suggestions would be welcome!
Thanks
G
Hi G
You should definitely add water or a bit of fragrant stock (recipe on my blog) if you feel the end result is too thick. This happens from time to time as it is not an exact science. Get it to the consistency that you like it and your curries will be perfect.
Thanks
Dan
Many thanks Dan. I should say that since my question, I have gone on to make both Chicken Madras and Chicken Dhansak – (having thinned the sauce with water as I suspected you would suggest), both of which were absolutely incredible and could have arrived as a takeaway from a top local Indian Restaurant. I cannot believe that they were made with my own hands in my own kitchen.
I chose not to prepare the chicken in the way you describe, favouring instead the Chinese method of velvetting – marinating in egg white and cornflour then briefly frying before adding to the curry. Amazing!y tender and moist.
I have been trying to make a restaurant style curry at home for almost 20 years, and have never been satisfied – until now that is! I have about 30 books on Indian cookery and about 5 of those are on Indian Restaurant cookery. Guess where they are going now!
Anybody reading this who may be thinking: “it is a lot of ingredients”, “I don’t have the time” , “I’m not a good enough cook” or “Dan has asked G to write this”, is wrong and needs to think again and try it. My curries at home have that real, indescribable restaurant taste and you Dan, are a Godsend!
Hi gb mine is exactly the same, made 3 liters which like you said made half. Did you add 3 liters of water after?
Regards
Tony
Hi Tony
I’m not sure I understand your questions. The recipe is exactly as is. I usually don’t add any more water at the end. It should be a slightly thick sauce about the same consistency as single cream.
Thanks
Dan
Tony & Dan
I cannot remember how much water I added at the end, but it was enough to thin it slightly to the consistency of cream, as Dan described. I suppose variable sized ingredients, cooking heat etc, all make our attempts produce slightly different results in the end.
Regardless of my worries about consistency, the taste and flavour is spot on, this is now the only curry sauce recipe I will use!
Great to hear. Thank you GB. 🙂
Dan
Hi Dan,
I am about to make your curry and then lamb vindaloo for my husband – I just wanted to compliment you on your nice, clean printing pages – so many websites clutter up recipes with ads and junk or take 10 pages of paper to print a 1 page recipe! It is so nice to encounter your site which does not do that!
Thanks,
Laura
Thank you Laura and sorry for the late reply. I really appreciate you trying my recipe. Hope you liked it. 🙂
Dan
Hi there, I just wanted to ask if you have to put it in a blender? As it looks great pre blend.
Thanks Jim.
Hi Jim
The sauce is usually blended until smooth but I often don’t bother. Many restaurants use a chunkier sauce in their dishes. Good luck.
Dan
HI .Looks and smells great.
unblended or blended
thanks for the recipe mate
Thanks Keith. 🙂
Dan
This stuff is amazing, can’t get enough of the simple jalfrezi, made a big batch of sauce last month, a small batch last week and back for another big batch tonight.
Just wondering, my wife and I both like a bit of a chilli kick, if we’re the only people eating it would you add chilli to the sauce instead of the final dish or is it better this way round?
Thanks for posting this stuff Dan
Hi Si
Thanks for the question. If you are the only two eating the curries, you could add chilli to taste. I don’t as I like to add heat at the end of cooking. Happy cooking.
Dan
Hi Dan
I don’t normally review or comment, but I just wanted to leave a comment thanking you for sharing this wonderful recipe with us! I made it today and then used it to make a Rogan Josh which was absolutely delicious, and tasted very much like a curry house curry! I’ve tried many times to recreate curry house curries to no avail, but you have provided the perfect solution here.
Thanks again!
Sharon
Hi Sharon
Thank you very much. I’m really glad the recipe worked for you. Keep in touch.
Dan
Excellent recipe, thank you. I admit I was dubious about the smoked paprika (essentially a Mediterranean ingredient) but it added a lovely touch. Highly recommended.
Thank you. Really glad you liked it. That was a tip I learned visiting a restaurant in London.
Dan
How important is it that you use smoked paprika? I can’t easily get hold of it (remote rural Canada) and was wondering whether I needed to mail order some (and delay making the sauce) or just use standard paprika instead? Thanks!
Hi Alex
Normal paprika will work fine. It’s actually what I use most often.
Thanks,
Dan
hi Dan, i only have fenugreek seeds, do i still add a tablespoon?
Hi Jan
That should still be fine. Just be sure to grind them first.
Thanks
Dan
I’m a British born Kashmiri and my mum has always cooked traditional Indian Pakistani curry’s. However nothing beats a britiah Indian takeaway!
This recipe is an absolute God send. Thank you so much for sharing!
Let us know if we can support you in any other way, apart from Kindle purchases.
Thank you very much Balal. 🙂
Dan
I would like to make this recipe. It Will be the forst time i make an Indian dish. I Cannon vind any gingen of garlic paste here in Holland .
Can i use fresh garlic and ginger?
How much do i need to start with? Thanks for this great website!
Greetings from Holland!
Hi Astrid
There is a recipe on my site for garlic and ginger paste. It’s really easy to make. Just take equal amounts of chopped garlic and ginger and blend with a little water into a paste. Just make as much as you need or make more than you need. It keeps in the fridge for up to three days or you can freeze it. 🙂
Dan
An absolute hit with my hubby and friends. I live in Spain now and this is the perfect recipe for those Friday nights when you yearn for Indian restaurant curry. I cooked the Jafrezi and have enough left over for another, its making the choice of what to try next is the hard part
Hi Sara. Thank you for stopping by. Really glad you liked the jalfrezi. Happy cooking.
Cheers
Dan
An absolute hit with my hubby and friends. I live in Spain now and this is the perfect recipe for those Friday nights when you yearn for Indian restaurant curry. I cooked the Jalfrezi and have enough left over for another, its making the choice of what to try next is the hard part
Hi Sara
Thank you for stopping by and for trying my recipes. Really glad you liked the jalfrezi. Happy cooking!
Dan
Can you let me know what hot and other spices to add to make the madras after I have made the large batch as I can only see photos but not what to add Thank’s
Hi Kathryn
Now that you have made the sauce, simply go to my restaurant style curries section on the blog. All of the popular curries including madras are there and they use the base sauce.
Thanks
Dan
Thank you very much Dan. This is a fantastic recipe. At long last I can make a restaurant curry that tastes like they used to in the 70’s.
Thank you Chris. Really glad you like the recipe.
Dan
Have been asked to cook a curry for 60+ at the rugby club
I can do quality but have never considered the efforts of quantity.
Bought the book. Gonna trial on the under 16s squad and then go for real the week after. Two different curries. Lamb and chicken
For the test curry… 30people ish… Do you think 6kg of chicken? Was thinking of thighs.
Hi Mike
That should cover it. Thanks for trying the recipes.
Dan
Oh my days! Just did the large batch and 6kgs of chicken tandoori making the chicken tikka masala for 35 very hungry rugby kids and coaches!
Absolutely lush. Gonna make more from the book!
Thank you!
Thank you very much Mike. Really glad you all liked the recipe. I have a new ebook coming out soon that will feature many more tandoori style recipes.
Cheers
Dan
I’m making this sauce as we speak but got a question. Is it 9 table spoons of garlic n ginger or 4 n half each? O and can I use butter instead of ghlee?? Thanks
Hi Jackie
The garlic and ginger paste is a blend of garlic and ginger. 9 tablespoons of that blend should be fine. You can use butter instead of ghee but it burns easier so watch it. Lots of chefs use vegetable oil instead. Good luck.
Dan
So up scaling my curry for the rugby club.
5kg Chicken tikka masala. Done before know it
5kg lamb Keema…Pakistani breakfast as I call it
And beef madras.
Making the pre-cook meat bit but there is quiet a lot of liquid.
I’m presuming I store all that possibly add less base sauce yeah?
Or should I drain off?
I’m going for the use it all approach.
Be keen to know if that is right.
Ta.
Hi Mike
You’ve got it. Just add sauce until you are happy with how the curry looks and tastes. You could add additional cooking stock to give the curry more flavour. There is no real rule other than it has to be perfect for your tastes. Good luck.
Dan
Hi Dan, I want to thank you for the base sauce recipe. I’m always trying to re-create an authentic curry house taste and this is what my curries have been missing. I’m making my second batch now. Do you think this sauce would serve as a base to a Dhansak? Keep up the good work.
Hi Reg
Thank you. It sure would. In fact I have a new dhansak recipe coming up soon. Watch this space.
Dan
just bought your kindle book, based on the blog i have been reading ….. i was impressed…. just thought i would share with you 🙂 i cook a fairly mean chicken tikka masala myself, but the curry base means i can now make a lot of other recipes.. thanks to you. i have a slick new cooker arriving in the morning, so i will be sampling some of your delights tomorrow .. .can’t wait 😀
thanks very much!
Thank you very much Jacqui. I’m really glad you enjoy the sauce. Happy cooking.
Dan
Morning Dan, with regards to the large batch curry sauce, is it 9 tbs each of garlic and ginger paste, or 9 tbs of each? Great recipes, just realised you live in my home town,
Mark.
Hi Mark
It’s nine tablespoons of garlic and ginger paste as a blend. That is equal measures of garlic and ginger blended into a paste. Hope this helps. Yarm’s a great place!
Thanks
Dan
hi Dan. My base curry sauce is simmering away as i type (pre-turmeric phase). At the moment the spice flavour is in the background when i tase rather than in my face. I’m wondering if i added enough spice. Are the tablespoon measures meant to be level or heaped or somewhere in between? Thanks!
Hi William
I usually use rounded measures. Think of this sauce as a base. There is not a lot of flavour as it is used in so many different curries. The real flavour is added when you make the basic sauce into different curries. Hope this helps.
Dan
Last night I made your curry base for the third time. I really like to use it because I really like a lot of sauce in my dishes. I discovered Indian food during a trip the the U.K. & my wife & I really have grown into loving it. We do have some great restaurants here in Ann Arbor, MI USA but I’ve been making it at home for quite some time now. Your curry base has really changed the game for me.
The only change I’ve made is reducing the smoked paprika to a teaspoon. It’s just a matter of personal taste. It seemed like the paprika flavour dominated any dish I used the base in.
Last night it was Chicken Korma & it was delicious! I plan to go right down your list & make them all. My wife wants me to use your low fat recipe book but I will have to actually buy a Kindle first.
Hi Joe
Thanks for stopping by and for trying my recipes. I’m really glad you like them. Lately I’ve been using unsmoked paprika. My recipes change all the time. 🙂 Have fun with the recipes and keep experimenting.
Thanks
Dan
Hi Dan I’ve just made the Base sauce and am looking forward to many curry’s, I also downloaded the kindle curry book and in it you change the reciepy slightly, it says 1 tablespoon of curry powder instead of garam masala and then 1 tsp of turmeric instead of 1 tablespoon? I cook Thai and some vegetable Indian curry’s alot so I’m happy enough that it’s not going to be a big change. But which recipe is the most up-to-date? Regards
Tony
Hi Tony
Thanks for asking. The recipe on my site is the most up to date at the moment though that will change. I’m busy revising my ebooks. You could use either garam masala or curry powder. They are essentially the same thing. Curry powders and garam masalas vary a lot as well. If you are using my recipes, you won’t be disappointed by adding either. I have also started using less turmeric. I don’t really know why. It has just happened. 🙂
Thanks
Dan
Hi dan just want to say thankyou for everything you’ve done on this site , ive been using your reciepes for a while now and have had great results every time .thankyou. marco
Thank you very much for that Marco. I’ll keep the recipes coming. Really glad you like them.
Dan
your recipes look great, have just purchased your e-books and can’t wait to start cooking them
Thank you very much Dave! Much appreciated. 🙂
Dan
Hi, If i wanted to cook this recipe in a 5litre pot, would I just halve all the ingredients including the powders??
Hi Dave
That should work fine. 🙂
Thanks
Dan
Hi Dan,
Made your base sauce this past week and got rave reviews for the chicken Korma, (your recipe) and for a chickpeas and vegetables version. Question: has anyone tried canning (mason jars) your base sauce? I don’t see a problem if following the proper canning process, but I thought I should ask. Thank you.
Marcel
Hi Marcel
I’ve never thought about that one but I also don’t see any problem. I usually just freeze mine but that sounds like a good idea.
Thanks
Dan
Hi Dan,
Thanks. I will give it a try.
Marcel.
I’m curious too but I think to be safe you need to find a good method. The contents are low acid and that is not good for water bath canning. (you need more acid) I’d be very interested in any method for water bath you might find and share. Thanks
Hi Dan, thank you so much for this great recipe! Your Restaurant Curry Sauce is a staple in our house for quite a while now. And thanks to, you my kids are becoming quite the curry lovers. I usually prepare 4 times the amount of above recipe and can it with the water canning method. The only adaptation to canning that I make, is that I use less oil when frying the onions. I fill the boiling sauce into canning jars, transfer them into the hot water bath and leave them in the boiling water for two hours. That way the sauce keeps for months and makes a great gift for all the people who like to make a quick curry after a long day at work or chasing infants around the house.
PS: I love it, that you mention which recipes your kids like. I make sure to include one of those whenever we prepare a curry feast.
PPS: With modern canning gear (well regulated temperature) the low acidity of the ingredients does not prevent them from being cannable, it just means you have to leave them in the water bath a bit longer.
Hi Susanna
I love this! Thank you very much. I have preserved a lot of pickles but never the base sauce. I’ll give it a try. To be honest, I now use a lot more oil. About 500ml more to be exact. I’ve learned to do this over the passed couple of years through my restaurant visits. When you simmer the sauce, all of the oil rises to the top. The oil is now seasoned and has a great flavour. I carefully skim it off the top and keep it for use in my curries rather than simply using plain vegetable or rapeseed oil. It adds a lot of depth to the curry. Thanks again for you tip!
Dan
Hi Dan
I just want to say thanks a lot for sharing…I’ve been making curry sauces for ages, but this one was the best I’ve ever made from scratch (I think is was as I was following your recipe I upped the amount of onions, I added a lot more than I usually do and left them to sweat/caramelize )
I used it to make a basic fish curry, I threw in a bit of desiccated coconut and a few peas for sweetness and added some white fish! It was lovely…plus I’ve got a pan full of sauce left! Am already planning what I can add to make different dishes….Thanks again
Hey, I am from New York, USA. I want to buy your books! How can i do so?
Hi David
I only have ebooks and they are all available on Amazon.com. Just type in Dan Toombs in the search. Hope this helps.
Thanks
Dan
Hi Dan, Just made a batchful of your Curry Sauce and looks great and all went well. The only thing I have is a slightly bitter aftertaste. Maybe too much Garlic?? How can I fix it or will it disappear once I make a curry
Thanks
Peter
Hi Peter
It sounds like you might have over cooked the garlic. I’m not really sure. If you burnt the garlic, there isn’t much you can do but start over. You’ll get there. I wish I could be more help but I haven’t come across this problem before. Burnt garlic is quite bitter.
Good luck.
Dan
Hi Dan,
Merry Christmas to you and yours. I just wanted to thank you again for a superb site.
I have one question regarding your curry sauce – have you ever made it, then used it as the base sauce in a slow cooker to make your curries? I do not want to waste this liquid gold if you don’t think it will work!
GB
So what you don’t like my feedback? Seems you have filtered my comments, what’s the issue ? Canning low acid foods can make you sick depending on how you do it….I ‘m still trying to find a safe water bath way.
Hi, I’m not sure what you mean by that. I haven’t filtered your comments????
Dan
Base sauce is great. I used it to make a saagwala, now looking forward to making a masala and bhuna.
Great to hear. I’m glad you liked it. Good luck with the bhuna. It’s one of my favourites.
Dan
Hi Dan
Is there a version that doesn’t use ghee? Just trying to keep it low fat.
Thanks and Happy New Year
Hi Chris
Try using light olive oil or rapeseed oil. I often do and it works fine.
Thanks
Dan
Thanks Dan , as I do not have time to make the base tomorrow, I’d like to make the chicken saagwala, can you offer a n adapted version of your existing recipe that would n’t involve the base? Or is that just plain daft???
Thanks Dan , as I do not have time to make the base tomorrow, I’d like to make the chicken saagwala, can you offer an adapted version of your existing recipe that would n’t involve the base? Or is that just plain daft???
I just want to appreciate you for this blog. I like Chicken Tikka Masala very much. I will collect a big pot of sauce and will make it soon.
I hope it will be the good recipe.
Hi David
Hope you like it too. 🙂
Dan
Hi Dan,
I think i may have missed something here, for the large batch of base sauce how much water do you use , also will the taste / texture be different if veg oil is used instead of butter.?
kind regards
Mike
Hi Mike
How much water you use is really up to your own personal preference. I usually use just enough to cover all the vegetables. Some people like their curries runnier or drier so just adjust. Many chefs use vegetable oil instead of butter/ghee. It gives a different flavour. Personally I prefer ghee but vegetable oil is fine too.
Thanks
Dan
On Amazon it says you and your family ate nothing else but curry for a year.
I am going to try that on with my wife.
You should watch Red Dwarf if you dont’ already – reckon you’d get on just fine with Lister.
Shame about the lack of paper versions of your books – also why should the US ( Amazon + Kindle ) get a slice of everything we do?
Hi Jonnie
I haven’t seen Red Dwarf but will try to now. 🙂 I’m working on finding a publisher for a printed version.
Thanks
Dan
Could you make this without the cabbage?? Is there any substitute?
Hi Sara
You can definitely make it without the cabbage. Many chefs do. It is essentially an onion stock.
Thanks
Dan
Hi Dan,
I have just discovered your site and am very excited. I have been striving to make a restaurant styl curry for over 30yrs!!!
Can you tell me the tablespoon measure you use are they U.S or U.K. standard measures. I live in the UK and I think our tablespoons are larger.
Many thanks
Jim
Hi Jim
I use UK measures. My recipes are just guides though. If a recipe calls for one tablespoon chilli powder and you think it might be a bit much, just add less.
Thanks
Dan
hi Dan,
I have never made a curry before yet I eat a few , I like Dopiaza, Jalfrezi curries the most
how would I go about using tho sauce but then make it into on the 2 I have mentioned
do you have recipe for them
thanks
steve
Hi Steve
I have recipes for both of those curries on the site with instructions on how to use the base sauce. 🙂
Dan
Great recipe and now my house smells great. Just one concern and it’s almost certainly down to my incompetence, but the base sauce is slightly bitter. Can I get around this in future cooks or even correct it when making the finished curry? Or is this as intended. I know tinned tomatoes often vary considerably in terms of acidity.
Thanks for the great site!
Hi Gareth
I haven’t been asked that one before and have never had the problem. It could be that you burnt your garlic which would make the sauce bitter. That or perhaps you used too much turmeric or fenugreek for your personal taste. Try those spices and see if that is where the bitterness is coming from.
Thanks,
Dan
Hi Dan,
How many tomatoes do you use for 400ml or do you use tin tomatoes?
Thanks
Barry
Hi Barry
Tinned tomatoes will work fine. That’s what I use usually.
Dan
Hi Dan, I’m trying to figure out exactly how much in grams of onion you use in this recipe (regarding the other ingredients). I’am a beginner so I wanna get it right and end up with the right flavour. Thanks very much for help, Tomas
Hi Tomas
Sorry but I can’t help you with that one yet. I’ll be making it again this week and will weigh the amount of onions used. 🙂
Dan
I made the recipe using 10 tennis-ball sized onions and after trimming off the tops and roots, and peeling off the skin, they came in at 1,900 grams.
Hi Dan,
I have just made the large batch of base sauce and then used it to make the chicken saagwala.
After tasting the finished base sauce I found it very sweet and it seemed to carry over to the saagwala. What ingredient could cause this or is it normal?
Apart from this very flavoursome and perfect consistency so would like to keep using your recipes
Regards
Jack
Hi Jack
Sorry but I’m not really sure. Someone else just commented that theirs was too bitter. I think it will be down to the ingredients used. Try to experiment a bit and you’ll get there. 🙂
Dan
Hi.
By garlic & ginger paste, do you mean the bottled stuff?
Must say, I’ve used it before and not been impressed, though maybe it’s how it’s used:)
Thanks
Hi Barney
I know what you mean. I hate the bottled stuff. I make my own. Equal amounts of garlic and ginger blended with a little water into a paste. 🙂
Dan
My mother always kept the ginger and garlic paste mixed in one jar. I keep them separated, since I like to use more ginger in meat dishes or no ginger in vegetarian dishes. Am I correct that your 9 Table spoons is a mixture of both and not 9 each. How do you feel about the two being combined and in what proportion would you mix the ginger and garlic pastes or is it half and half. I need to clarify before I make my big batch. Looking forward to the smells when I do. How long can it be kept frozen?
Thanks.
Hi Samina
Sorry for my late reply. It is nine tablespoons garlic/ginger paste mix. My mix is a 50% split but you can definitely change that if you want.
Thanks,
Dan
I have one question about the recipe.mit calls for 9 tablespoons of garlic and ginger paste. Is this 9 tbls of each?
Thank you in advance!
Hi Debbie
It’s nine tablespoons of garlic/ginger paste. Nine total.
Thanks,
Dan
Hi Dan,
Great site and recipe. I’ve been in Australia for years now and have talked fondly to my kids of how good the BIR’s were in comparison to most encountered here. I was a bit spoiled though, going to University in Bradford then working lots in Birmingham, Manchester and other areas good for curries. Looking forward to re-creating some meals!
Made a large pot of this yesterday and reckon it will do 30 portions for me and 2 teenage kids. Smells absolutely gorgeous this morning and I know it’s going to be good. Pre-cooked meat today, so when it’s time to cook something up should have time to do starters and breads too. 🙂
Thanks, Tim.
Hi Tim
Thanks for stopping by. I’d love to hear how you get on so please keep in touch.
Dan
Dear Dan, after trying to cook Indian food for 20 years, going through numerous recipes and cook books, you did finally solve the great mystery for me – THANK YOU! This recipe is indeed the key and the well-hidden secret to making restaurant-style Indian food at home. Even hubbie, who wasn’t fond of Indian curries at all, now loves them (!). I got a tip in a facebook food group about your blog, and now I’ve made the base sauce twice and it’s fantastic. Yesterday I made a blog post about it (in Norwegian) and credited you there of course. I also purchased a couple of your e-books just because I’m so grateful for the recipe. 🙂 Keep up the great work!
I do, however, have a couple of questions:
1) Why is the turmeric added in the end, and cooked slightly in ghee first (to release the aromatics, I presume)?
2) I find adding the spices right after the onion has cooked releases the aromatics better, I also add the turmeric at that point – stir well for a couple of minutes, then add garlic & ginger, stir for a minute and then add the rest of the veggies. Thoughts?
All the best and greetings from Norway,
Aleksandra
Hi Aleksandra
Thank you very much for your kind words. I’m really happy you liked the recipe and thank you for purchasing my ebooks. To be honest, my recipes have changed since the ebooks and that post. I have visited so many excellent restaurants to research a new printed cookbook that will be published in May 2017 by Quadrille Publishing.
The curry base sauce recipe on my site and in my ebook was one of the first I learned. The turmeric was tempered and added at the end of cooking by the chef to give the base sauce more colour. I now add it, like you do with the other ground spices. I think you will love my new recipe when it is published.
For now though, the way you are doing things sounds good. My new way is a lot different but with the same ingredients. Watch this space. 🙂
I love getting feedback like this. Thank you very much for mentioning me on your blog.
Dan
I have been living in New Zealand for seven years and the only thing I miss more than gammon is a British style curry. I’ve been trying to replicate them for years,creating loads of flavour but not the consistency…….until now!
Dan,you have changed my life! We have just had curry for dinner 17 days straight.
I bought the app,but think I know all the recipies by heart now.
Thank you so so much! Jude
Thank you very much Jude! I’m really happy you like the recipes. I’ll keep them coming. 🙂
Dan
Hi Dan, As an English person living in Australia now, I find it hard to find a decent curry so your recipes are absolutely magic! I was so happy to find your site. Thank you, Jenny
Thank you very much Jenny. I’ll keep the recipes coming on the blog and I have a cookbook out in May 2017. 🙂
Dan
Great, can’t wait to buy it! Keep up the good work!
So I’ve gone and bought myself an instantpot cooker (glorified pressure cooker, slow cooker come salute-er) and wondered if I could speed up any of the processes such as making stock and doing the pre-cook meats.
Wouldn’t use for the main cooking or baltis but might speed up and ease the BIR and such.
Any thoughts or experience?
Have seen it can cook lamb shank in 40mins so looking forward to that as a curry dish.
Hi Dan,
After trying lots of Indian recipes for BIR style curry I found your web site by chance on the net. I was very impressed with your descriptions and good photos of the various stages of cooking. So long story short made the base curry and tried the chicken Madras. Wow mate well done it was so good, only issue is my girlfriend says we won’t need to go out for Indian again….lol
That’s excellent news Alan. Really glad you guys liked the recipe.
Thanks,
Dan
I tried them all, and I really appreciate them all, espeically the rogan josh, thankyou.
Is it possible you could put up a recipe for Mango chicken curry?
Thankyou
Hi Kate
Thank you. I’ll work on the mango chicken curry too. 🙂
Dan
Hi I have some beef flank steaks. What is the best way to pre cook these before adding to your rogan recipe? Thanks Alan.
Hi Alan
Flank steak has so much flavour. I like to grill in on the bbq. It restaurants, it would normally be cooked until well done but I like it medium. Cut across the grain as it will be easier to chew.
Hope this helps.
Dan
Hi Dan,
I’m going to have a go at making an authentic BIR curry following your recipes – looks primising.
Some other recipes I’ve tried suggest red onions – is this something you’ve experimented with?
Regards,
Mike
Hi Mike
I’ve experimented with red onions and it wasn’t bad. Brown onions are what are used at every restaurant I’ve visited though. Hope this helps and thanks.
Dan
Hi there, is this the sauce I would use for just a plain chicken curry like in the takeaways, I’m puzzled??????
Please help as my misses only like chicken curry
Many thanks
Hi Clive
That’s right. In restaurants, they make a huge batch of this and then use it in most of their curries. If you would like a plain chicken curry, I recommend using my Madras recipe but leaving out most if not all of the chilli powder and chillies. Good luck.
Dan
Thank you for sharing. You have built a very nice site.
Thank you.
I’ve made this base for the first time and tried a few of the curries that are at the top of the page. Great Recipes loved the patia. Is there any more curries I can make from this base?
Thanks for this it’s taste better than the local takeaway 🙂
Hi Marc
Thank you very much. I will be adding more recipes in the coming months to the list. I also have a cookbook coming out that will be available on Amazon and other major retailers. It’s called “The Curry Guy” it there are quite a few in there too.
Thanks,
Dan
Your video shows 750ml ,but the written recipe says 250ml could you verify which one it is,cheers
Hi Will
The video is a newer recipe. I state that in the recipe post but it may not be clear. Oil is an excellent transporter of flavour. In the research I did for my upcoming cookbook, I noticed that many chefs use a lot of oil. They then skim it off the top and use the seasoned oil in their curries. It adds a nice flavour you just can’t get from plain oil.
Thanks,
Dan
I’m confused. The video calls for 3 tablespoons each of the spices but the written recipe only calls for 1 tablespoon? Also the oil in the video is 750ml but only 250ml in the above recipe. Can you calrify both of these discrepancies? You mention something about skimming the flavored oil off. If I use 750ml am I supposed to skim most of it off?
Hi John
I think I might need to remove the video from that page. You are not the first person to ask. I state on the page that the video is a different recipe to the written recipe. To answer your question about the oil, that is a little trick to keep the fat down and also have some great tasting oil for your curries. You probably could get it all out if you want to try but it could take some time. Try to get as much as you can out as it keeps forever. I suggest using either the written or the video recipe. I will write out the video recipe when I have more time.
Thanks,
Dan
Also – the video calls for 1 liter of water initially, then after removing half of the curry base you replace half the removed curri volume with additional water. I think you said in the comments you use a 10 liter pot so that’s 6 liters if water total?? That seems like a lot of water?
Hi Dan,
Do you think you will upload any veggie recipes that can be derived from this curry base? Would love to use it to make something for my vegan girlfriend 🙂
Bailey
Hi Bailey
Thank you. I am working on it. I should have some new veggie recipes with the base sauce on the site soon.
Thanks,
Dan
Thanks, really appreciate it. About to make my first batch now!
Hi Dan, the video shows that you use 3 Tablespoons of spices and 1LTR of water, but the written recipe states 1 Tablespoon of spices and 500ml of water, which one do I use?
Hi Jim
The recipes are different to each other. I use the video recipe most often.
Thanks,
Dan
Hi Dan, Made the base from the written recipe, and from that I made a Chicken Madras and a King Prawn Jalfrezi which were amazing
All I can say is after years of trying to get that Restaurant taste at last I know someone who knows what they are talking about. Next up Chicken Tikka
Dan you are the man
Thank you very much Jim. Really glad you liked the recipes! Keep in touch.
Dan
I’m quite new to cooking curries although they are my favourite dish. I like heat but my hubby doesn’t and when he eats curries it’s only very mild one. He asked if I could do him a more traditional tikka massala although he did like the ones I already made. So I followed your recipe and he was very impressed. I have since made the madras, bhuna and dhansak. They are amazing. I was truly impressed with the madras. It was as good as a take away. The curry base sauce makes a huge difference and I’m sure this is what I have been missing. Thank you for sharing your amazing recipes.
Thank you Victoria
I’m so glad you like the recipes. I always have some base sauce on hand for those last minute cravings! Thank you for trying my recipes.
Dan
Sorry for potentially a dumb question but a beginner ‘wannabe’ curry chef here – could this be made in a medium sized wok?
Thanks!
Hi Matt
It could be but you might want to reduce the ingredients so it doesn’t over flow. It should work fine though.
Thanks,
Dan
Hi Dan……Great site, just pre-ordered 2 books from amazon cant wait to get them.
iv just made my 1st large batch of base sauce, looks great. You mention at the end to separate into 750ml portions, i have 4 portions is that about right?
i also notice that different curries call for different amounts of base sauce ie….korma is 700ml, madras is 750ml while jalfrezi is only 400ml…..are these strict measurements? or could i make every curry with the same amount of sauce ie…..700ml for example? or would 700ml would be to much sauce for a jalfrezi
also do you have the recipe for making an even larger base sauce
all the very best tony 😉
Hi Tony
Thank you very much for purchasing the copies of my new cookbook. Much appreciated.
The base sauce is exactly as the name implies, it’s just a base and the measurements are not important. They are just a guide. This is all made more clear in my book. I have learned a lot since posting this recipe. If you watch the video above, you’ll see my most recent version. It is a lot thiner. Water or stock can be added to double the volume so you should get close to 12 litres. I usually freeze it before doubling the volume with water/stock to save freezer space.
As measurements are not really important, you could easily double this recipe if you want to make more. It will still come out tasting about the same. The real magic happens when you use the rather bland base sauce with spices and other ingredients to make your curries. Hope this helps.
Thanks,
Dan
Dear Dan,
wonderful secret for indian curry.i was trying to get this secret since many years but could not able to find that how restaurant curries are so delicious.Thank you very much for giving us.
Did you taste indian albake chicken shawrma.it is creamy roti filled up with spicy chicken.it taste very very well just can in small words mouth watering.if you go to delhi please find their receipe. Restaurant is based in New friends colony and restaurant name is Al-bake.
Thanks for sharing your delicious receips.
thanks and best Regards
Aasma
Thanks very much for the tip. When I do go to New Delhi, I’ll definitely try Al-bake!
Thanks,
Dan
Hi Dan,
Just getting into making quantities of your base curry sauce and have one initial query for you.
Qu.? Using cabbage in curry sauce is new to me so please advise what it gives to the sauce.
Many thanks.
Hi Roger
It doesn’t add a lot of flavour to be honest. I’ve seen base sauces made with nothing but oil, water and onions. Adding cabbage is something I’ve seen mostly at Bangladeshi run restaurants. If noting else, it’s good for you. 🙂
Thanks,
Dan
Hi Dan,
I was very interested to see your take on the base gravy. My sister is allergic to tomatoes and whenever ive asked about this when ordering in Indian restaurants none of them have used tomatoes in their base gravy. I know you have had experience over Indian kitchens so was a bit surprised to see tomatoes in your recipe, is it just something you prefer rather than generally used by Indian restaurants..
Thanks for some lovely recipes.
Cheers
John
Hi John
Thank you very much. I have visited a lot of curry house kitchens. Most use tomatoes in their base sauce but I have seen a couple of chefs make a base sauce with nothing more than onions, water and oil. The tomatoes only add a little flavour and colour. Feel free to leave them out and you will still have a very authentic curry house style base sauce.
Cheers,
Dan
Hi Dan,
Just bought your hard back book now and it looks like the ingredients are different between this page and your book. Which should I be following? I have 12 onions so was going to do the above, the book looks to use smaller amount of onions but with more spices.
Thanks,
Phill
Hi Phill
Thank you very much for purchasing my book. To be honest, both are very authentic. Base sauces vary from restaurant to restaurant. I’ve seen some chefs prepare a base sauce with nothing but onions, oil and water. When you consider how much water is added, the small amount of spices added only flavours the sauce a little which is why it is quite bland. The real magic happens when you add the base sauce to other ingredients to make the individual curries. Hope this helps. Thanks, Dan
Thank you Dan! Amazing getting a response from the author, I am extrememly impressed!
I have now made my large batch, going off the website version and am going to look at doing some currys this week. I had to bag the base though and freeze it, whats the best way to do defrost, would boil in bag work a bit and then in to a fresh pan? Sorry quite new to proper cooking and it made sense to start with something i love eating….Curry!
If i made a dopiaza, could i do away with the onion sauce and use more of the base? It looks like the ingrediants are somewhat similar.
Thanks you again! So happy with the purchase and i look forward to other printed versions.
Thank you very much Phill – I’m really glad you are enjoying my recipes. RE defrosting, I usually just take the sauce out in the morning and let it defrost for the evening. Your way will work just fine though! The answer to the dopiaza question is yes! The ingredients are similar. Just use my recipes as guides and your really can’t go wrong. If you use the freshest ingredients you can find to begin with, the end result should almost always be really good!
Thanks,
Dan
After hearing you on the Chris Evans breakfast show last week, have made Chicken Madras, and Garlic Chilli chicken, fantastic, what can I say except your book will be number 1 cooking choice in our household.
Thank you very much Kevin! Much appreciated. I hope you continue to enjoy the book and recipes. 🙂
Dan
Hi Dan, I have just bought your book and made the base sauce. As I don’t like to use plastic containers I have made the large batch sauce and without diluting transferred to glass containers of 400 ml capacity to freeze, as i only had six of those. However I have realised that when you add the water to the sauce to bring it to the consistency of full fat milk, as you recommend, it will be at least 3 times its volume. So now I will end up with an overflowing quantity of base sauce every time I defrost a jar. I only intend to make one curry for 4 people at a time. What am I going to do with so much base sauce!!! Any suggestions?
Hi Fouzia
I normally freeze the sauce before adding the water. It saves a lot of freezer space. Then when I cook the different curries I add the water to the base sauce. If you have already added the water, you can always cook it down again. It won’t hurt and might actually be better. I hope this helps. Thank you very much for purchasing my book.
Dan
The ground fenugreek, is that ground leaves, or ground seeds? What are the other names this is sold under? I can’t find this in my supermarket so I’m going to have to buy it at an Indian/Pakistani shop, what name should I be looking for (Hindi/Urdu)?
Hi Ann – Try looking for ‘methi’
Thanks,
Dan
Hi Dan, I’ve bought your book and I have a query regarding the quantity of the ingredients for the Base Curry Sauce large and small batches as the differences are not always proportional. The quantity of the small batch is about 1/3 to nearly 1/2 of the large batch, but the quantity of most of the ground spices is 15 times greater for the large batch. I appreciate your quantities should be viewed as a guide, but as this does seem quite a significant difference, is it a mistake or is it correct? Thank you very much
Hi David – Thank you for getting in touch. The recipes are correct. In fact they are two different recipes. I have learned so many different base curry sauce recipes over the years because each chef makes it different. One thing that is almost always the same is the amount of onions. It is essentially an onion stock with a few other veggies and spices thrown in. I’ve even seen one chef make his base stock with nothing more than onions, water and oil. He used the rather bland sauce in his curries but he also spiced his curries well so it was all he needed. If you want to make a small batch without a pressure cooker though, I recommend halving the large batch. I hope this helps. Good luck with it. Dan
Hello Dan,
I bought your book and cooked the curry base sauce (large batch) yesterday with half of the ingredients.
I followed instructions very closely and used ingredients I bought a day before.
It smelled and looked promising, as on your pics.
However, when I tasted it there is a strong bitter taste. I wonder where it comes from.
I checked all vegetables which are ok and not bitter. Also nothing was burned while frying.
Maybe garlic ginger don’t like to be mixed? Or is it a problem that I pureed everything 1min with a heavy duty mixer?
Also the Chicken Korma I cooked with the curry base was bitter aka very herb so uneatable/unenjoyable.
Any other ideas/assumptions?
Hi Christian
Thanks for getting in touch. The korma is one of the most popular recipes from my book. I cook it at most of my demos. If it was bitter, you should add a little more sugar. Some people like their kormas really sweet so that might help. I think what you are tasting is the fenugreek. It is bitter and some people don’t like it. Try making it next time without the fenugreek and see if it is better. Another thing you should do it try and taste cumin on it’s own. That might also be the problem. I hope this helps. With a little experimentation, you will get it just right.
Thanks,
Dan
Ok, thanks. I will reduce the fenugreek.
Hi Christian
That’s great. With a little experimentation, you’ll get there!
Dan
Hi there, can I ask why the turmeric is added to the ghee before both been added to the stock sauce? Instead just adding directly in with the rest of spices.
Thanks
Matthew
Hi Matthew
Both methods are fine. In fact in my printed cookbook that is how it is done. Darkening the turmeric in the ghee gives a darker colour. It isn’t necessary and I rarely do it these days.
Thanks,
Dan
Making a vegan version of this recipe using soy-meat. Hope it will do the trick!
Hi Jimmy
I’d love to hear how it goes. Thanks, Dan
I’ve just made the sauce for the first time and on tasting it the tumeric seems to be overpowering everything else. Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Hi Mark
That will be a personal thing. If you find that the turmeric is overpowering, just reduce it next time. Many of the curries call for turmeric so you can leave it out. I hope this helps.
Dan
Hi Dan, watched you make a large batch of the base sauce in the tutorial video above and then read your written instructions below. In the video, after completing the cooking and blending, you remove half of the sauce and freeze for later and the replace it by adding the same amount of water in order to make a more diluted sauce. However, in your written instructions, you do not seem to dilute with water. Maybe I have read your instructions incorrectly – not sure. Please can you advise. Thanks for your great work, Tony.
Hi Tony
You got it right. The video is much more recent. I do dilute the sauce now. I just haven’t had time to amend yet. Thanks, Dan
Hi Dan, recently bought the book and am looking forward to making lots of dishes from it, however, just now I am working on the basics. I have just blended a large batch of the curry sauce and in the title text it says will make about 6 liters but further down the page it says 3 liters and that the sauce should be quite thick for storing, I have about 6 liters after blending, should I be reducing it down to 3 liters now?
Thanks, Richard
Hi Richard
Sorry for the late reply and thank you very much for purchasing my book. The base sauce recipe makes about 3 litres of thick base sauce. In order to use it, however, you need to add about (and this is approximate) three more litres of water. You want the sauce to be about the same consistency as full fat milk before using in your curries. When I make a large batch, I usually freeze some of the thick sauce to save freezer space and then add water when I use it. Hope this helps.
Dan
Hi Dan, I got your book last week and have already made Chicken Korma for the kids but using a curry base I had in the freezer from another recipe – it was great, clean plates all round!
I made the large batch yesterday but, just like Richard above, I’ve got the same question. I followed the recipe exactly and ended up with 6 litres of sauce not 3 litres – how did you go from a pan full of 6 litres of sauce down to 3? Did you reduce it down by simmering for a few hours without the lid on, or what?
Also, and I know you’ll probably say it doesn’t matter(!), but which base sauce method do you prefer using – the one in the video or the one in the book??
Looking forward to making the Chicken Dhansak – keep up the good work!!
Thanks – Mike
Hi Mike
Thank you for picking up my book. The book instructions are correct. Sorry, but my blog is in need of some work as my recipes have changed.
With this recipe, you should end up with about 3 litres of thick sauce. You can freeze it at this stage to save freezer space. If using immediately, you want to add water or stock to the blended sauce until it is the same consistency as full fat milk. This will get you roughly six litres of sauce give or take some.
Hope this helps,
Dan
Hi Dan,
I’ve just made a big batch and also end up with 6 litres at the end. I’ve seen a few small molar posts and was wondering if you could suggest where we might be differing from your approach where you end up,with 3 litres of thick sauce? I am struggling to see how 750ml oil, 3 litres of water and 2kg of onions could end up as 3 litres of sauce over a 75 minute period over a simmer? Am I missing something?
Hi Dean
In this recipe (which I do need to find time to update) you should end up with about 6 litres of sauce just like you did. The pot I’m using in those pics is a 6 litre pot. As in my book, you add the water and vegetables. The oil is used but can be skimmed off. Add water or stock at the end until your sauce is the same consistency as full fat milk. You really can’t go wrong. Even if it is too thick, it will still work well. Hope this helps.
Dan
This is so delicious. Cooking it made me hunger. It smelled so divine! After I packed up the sauce, I could not help myself from licking out the pan, blender, bowl, and spoon. Even without the salt, it was yummy.
Thank you! Now just use it to make a few curries and it will be even better. Promise.
Cheers,
Dan
Hi Dan. Just purchased your book and can’t wait to start cooking. Page 22 and 23 have the recipes for the Base sauce, however the small batch is not proportionate to the large batch. Eg 10 times the carrots in the double size batch. The sauce recipe on this website lacks a lot of the spices so we’d prefer to use the one in the book, plus we only need to make the smaller batch. Any advice greatly received!
Thanks
Hi Jo
Thank you very much for purchasing my book. The small and large recipes are different to each other but both are authentic curry house recipes. When I want to make a small batch without a pressure cooker, I just halve or even quarter the large recipe.
Hope this helps.
Dan
Hi Dan,
I tried a few of the currys here and they turned out great but now I’m out of base sauce. 🙂
I thought I’d try the updated recipe in the video but have a question about the amount of spices, old recipe says 1tbsp whereas the video says 3tbsp. Is it correct that the amount is increased 3 times in the updated recipe?
Hi Mikael
It’s correct. I change my recipes from time to time. The additional spices don’t add much to the flavour as the stock is so diluted. They simply add more colour and a hint of additional flavour.
Thanks,
Dan
Hi could you please tell me what litre size stock pot i would need to make the large batch of curry base sauce.
A six litre pot will do perfectly. You could also use a three litre pot.
Thanks,
Dan
Can u leave out onions as I hate them
Hi Dave
If you hate onions, I would definitely leave them out. 🙂 You won’t have much sauce though.
Dan
For a really creamy thick gravy sauce I use a vegetable similar to pumpkin or squash (abóbora), peeled cut up and cooked with carrot. Add to the ingredients in Dan´s recipe before blending. The resulting sauce is really special.
Hi Dan. Is there a lnk to click on for your Soked Curry Powder recipe? I cant seem to find it on the site.
Thanks.
Hi Lawrence. Sorry, that is an old post. The company that was making my smoked curry powder no longer does. You can use any good quality curry powder.
Thanks
Dan
Hi Dan,
I’ve just purchased your latest book; looks great by the way, and have just made my first batch of base sauce. I’ve taken your advice and dumped all my old spices and replaced them with fresh but I do have one question though. According to your book, the base sauce recipe makes 3 litres of thick sauce which is then watered down to make approximately 6 litres (24 servings), ie: 250ml per serving, but many of your recipes however suggests 500ml of sauce makes 4 servings which equates to 125ml per serving. My question is this, when following the Pasanda recipe for instance, should I use 500ml of the thicker sauce then add the water or 500ml after the sauce is thinned down?
Hi Kenny
Thank you very much. When adding the base sauce to curries, you want to use the diluted sauce. The amount of sauce you add is just suggested. You might want to add more sauce and play around with the spices. Think of the recipes as guides but consider the curries yours to do with what you want. 🙂
Thank you,
Dan
If I wanted to make a very large quantity of this base sauce do I just double of triple all of the ingredients ?
Hi Jules
That will work. Thanks, Dan
Hi Dan, I have made this a few times now. Looks how it’ should.
My question was this:
I make a large batch (20odd servings) and I’m only using 1/10 of that on the night (2 servings) so I freeze the other 18 servings.
I now take a base curry out of the freezer (they’re in 500ml batches) to make let’s say a madras. Excellent, all good. But I live in a house of two. And the recipe is for four people. So by the end I have two curries left.
Can I now freeze this madras? Or does it need to be eaten first time as the original base has already been frozen?
Hi Ben
Thanks for getting in touch. There are a lot of people that say not to refreeze things because it affects the flavour. The thing is, there isn’t much flavour in the base anyway. I make curries all the time with defrosted base sauce and then freeze them with excellent results.
Thanks,
Dan
Spot on the exactly what I needed to know. Thanks Dan
Great to hear Ben. Thank you.
Dan
Hi Dan,
I got your book “The Curry Guy” and the recipe for Base Curry Sauce is a little bit different from the one above, especially when it comes to individual spices ammount. Is any of them superior to other, or the book version is just the latest result of experiments ?
Regards
Rafal
Hi Rafal
Thanks for getting in touch. The book version is the base sauce I make most often. Neither is superior to the other. I have experimented with so many base sauce recipes but they are all quite similar when used in the curries.
Thanks,
Dan
Hi there Dan,
I bought the Book (having made some great curries from your website before), but am now a bit confused about the base-sauce recipe as there seems to be a lot of difference. The main difference being this recipe say 1 Tbsp of all the main dried ingredients, while the book says 3 Tbsp of most of them.
Because I have used the above with success, I am loathed to change it in some ways. What would you advise using?
Hi Dean
Thank you for picking up my book. These are two different recipes but both very authentic curry house base sauces. When you consider how many servings it makes, the additional spices listed in the book really don’t make a big difference in the flavour. I have seen some chefs make a base sauce with nothing but onions, oil and water. The one in my book is one of my favourites.
Thanks,
Dan
The only questions I have, as I’ve made a number of curry sauces, are:
1. about the tomatoes.
I’m headed for a glut of tomatoes this year, due to the hot summer, which should be great for sauce.
The question is whether it’s best to slightly par boil the tomatoes, dump them in ice water and remove the skins.
Even though the sauce is pureed, I guess it would be easier if there’s no tomato skins involved?
Not really sure what difference it would have flavour wise.
2. About the spices
A few times, I’ve ended up with a more bitter taste than a good curry house sauce and I’ve failed to track down exactly what was causing this.
I initially thought it could be the ginger – maybe not fresh enough?
Then I noted a strong hint of coriander powder and thought it could be that, so adjusted to suit, but fairly often, I still get a bitter hit.
It’s not horrible, but it just isn’t as sweet as a good curry house.
I totally get that the onion, garlic, spices and especially ghee should never go past light brown, it’s not that.
It’s driving me mad trying to figure out exactly where the bitter flavour hint is coming from – which spice is giving that note to the sauce.
Note: I haven’t tried your curry sauce yet, bookmarked for a beef curry I’ll be making this weekend, I’ll update if it’s a hit!
Hi Matthew
If using your own fresh tomatoes, I would do as you said and skin them. With regard to the bitter flavour, this appears to be a problem with only a few people. It will probably be down to one of the spices that you don’t like. The most common spices that give a bitter flavour to some people are cumin, fenugreek and turmeric. Give each of these a try and you will probably find the flavour you don’t like.
Hope this helps,
Dan
Hi Dan,
Just bought your book on amazon – fantastic! For the base curry sauce (new version) you say to freeze it in 750ml batches and when making a curry it will need to be doubled with water for the right texture. So in your curry recipes, should i be adding 750 of the base sauce plus 750 water, or 750ml of the water and base mix?
Chris
Hi Chris
Thank you very much for picking up my book. The sauce you add to the curry is the diluted sauce. It should be about the same consistency as full fat milk. I usually freeze the sauce before adding the additional water/stock to save freezer space.
Hope this helps,
Dan
Hi Dan,
I haven’t tried any yet but the recipes on your site look fantastic. I am going to start with the base gravy but I was wondering about the difference in oil between the video and the written recipes. In the video you use 750 ml whereas in the written version only 250 ml. Is the increased amount to allow for skimming seasoned oil from the top to be used later?
Hi Peter
Exactly! You could make the base sauce with less oil but I like having the seasoned oil on hand.
Thanks,
Dan
Hi Dan, Just made the base last night, which was as you say nice and easy,and ended up with 4 lots of 750 ml portions, looking at one of the comments above you say it should make 8 portions. Should I have added more water?
Hi Nick
It’s really just approximate. It depends a lot on how hot your pan is when cooking. The base sauce should be about the same consistency as full fat milk. If yours wasn’t then more water was needed.
Thanks,
Dan
Hi Dan,
Just found your website, my wife and I have been making curries for a few years now but none of them have given us the taste we love from our favourite restaurants.
Reading through your recipes and the comments it would seem I’ve found curry nirvana. So I’ll be starting with a batch of basic sauce tomorrow and it looks like your books will be on my Christmas list this year.
Now the question:
I’m not a fan of many of the veg oils and ghee after reading (probably too much) about them, so I’ve been using (so far successfully) what I believe to be the healthier option of cold pressed coconut oil in many of my recipes.
Have you ever used or would you use, coconut oil as a replacement for the fats in your recipes, I’d be interested in your opinion.
Thanks
Mick.
Hi Michael
Thanks for stopping by. The debate is still out about whether coconut oil is good for you or not. One nutritionist will say no and another yes. I use rapeseed oil as I personally believe it is the best out there but I also like to use coconut oil from time to time especially with southern Indian cooking.
Thanks,
Dan
Hi Dan,
I made a batch of your base sauce and I think something went wrong. I followed your recipe to a T (from the video) and everything looked correct. The base tastes mostly bland which is what I expected. However, there is also a very bitter taste that seems to permeate any other curry I make with the base, making the sauce quite unpleasant. I’m looking for ideas as to what may have gone wrong. I’ll have to throw this batch out and start again..
Any ideas?
Thank you
Hi David
The base sauce shouldn’t be bitter at all! Did you roast your spices. If you burnt the cumin it can become bitter. Another ingredient that might be making it bitter for you is the fenugreek. Try making the base without fenugreek next time and see if that helps. Some people find it very bitter.
Thanks,
Dan
Made the Chicken Madras today, first attempt at making a bir style curry. The result was easily on a par with my favourite local curry House, thanks for sharing the knowledge !
Great to hear Jeremy. Thank you very much.
Dan
Hi there,
Going to give this a try tomorrow.
Can you help ?
I am making this to accommodate say 50 servings for a buffet so can you recommend advice for upscaling ?
Many thanks
Hi Simon – Sorry for the late reply. I very behind at the moment. Hope you got it sorted. You can easily double, triple etc. the recipe. Hope it went well.
Dan
Hi Dan,
Just bought your book on amazon . For the base curry sauce (new version) you say to freeze it in batches and when making a curry it will need to be doubled with water for the right texture.
So in your curry recipes where you say for example to add 500ml base curry sauce – at should i be adding this plus another 500ml water, or should i be adding 250ml base sauce plus 250ml water?
Chris
Hi Chris
Thanks for buying my book. You add the diluted sauce to curries. If I am freezing the base sauce, I don’t add water or stock. I just freeze the thicker sauce to save freezer space. The sauce you add to the curries should be watered down with water or stock so that it is the same consistency as full fat milk. It reduces down quickly.
Hope this helps.
Thanks,
Dan
Hi Dan, I’ve done two of your recipes twice now (chicken tikka and rogan josh) with great results. However, in both runs this base sauce has come out quite lumpy and viscous, even after a significant blitz in the food processor. Is there something I can do to get a smoother texture? (PS the star rating system on my browser doesnt seem to work- so 5stars!!)
Thanks Matt – It’s really down to how long you blitz and how good your blender is. It shouldn’t be lumpy at all so blend it longer. With my old blender, I blended for about four minutes. With my new blender – a smoothy version – it takes about 30 seconds.
Thanks,
Dan
Video says 750ml oil but recipe calls for 250ml? Which is the correct amount thanks.
Hi Mick
They are both right. In the video, I used a lot and then skimmed it off to use as seasoned oil for my curries and other dishes. In the written recipe, I just used less because I didn’t have time to do all that skimming.
Hope this helps.
Dan
Dear Dan, well your blog is certainly a pleasant place to visit. I have just finished making the small batch curry base . I have not even used any of it yet and realized I couldn’t live any longer without buying a copy of your book. I plan on having “Date night with Dan” at least once a week… Very grateful for all of the hard work you put into this.
Best wishes
Mike in Ottawa, Canada.
Hi Mike
That’s great to hear! Thank you very much.
Dan